Shopping the GA Way!

Back to basics today and a few words about shopping. I have just got back from doing my weekly shop; which can often be challenging, living in Spain. Today I have been to five different shops, in order to get everything I need for the next week. I always go to Lidl for the basics, preferring to buy groceries everyday on my morning walk around Gran Alacant.

Today I had to take a trip up to the top of the hill, not far from where I used to live. I had to go to the pharmacy to try and get hold of those packets of Asprin I needed a week ago, in order to thin the blood and prevent a heart attack. To be honest, it's my own paranoia that wants me to buy them. I understand I have to eventually make an appointment at the Doctors, but the process is so laborious, having to arrange an interpreter, that I just don't have the time to mess around. Buying these at 1'30€ a packet, rather than the 5€ Darrell paid, should give me peace of mind at least. Thanks to Jackie, who lives locally in Gran Alacant, I was able to get the right medication and not pay over the odds for a change!

Next it was a stopover at the English Supermarket Quicksave to get a few herbs and spices for dinner this evening. To my surprise, I found the big 500 gram jars of Marmite, not something I have seen in Spain before and only 5'95€; an absolute bargain price. A big thank you to Quicksave for getting them in. For a Marmite addict like me, it's just like winning the lottery.

Lastly it was a quick stop at Unide, to pick up a local paper, some freeze dried corn, that I love and tomato juice for a Bloody Mary or two. It was interesting to see the headline 'Shopping Days Limited,' in the Costa Blanca News. The local Valencian Regional Government, recently voted to limit the number of Sundays and Red Days shops can open. Outlets in larger tourist zones had been allowed to open throughout the year; the new rules will mean having more limited opening times, closing on many of these lucrative shopping days.

This is of course in stark contrast to the British way of doing things, who tend to allow unrestricted shopping hours on public holidays and Sundays. I am not sure which system works best. On one hand workers are given far more time off in Spain, especially when one considers the number of bank holidays here, are more than double that of the UK and it also keeps Sunday as a day of rest, which is a good thing for families. Having said this, the Spanish economy is in a bit of a mess and could do with the economic boost seven day a week opening allows. A curtailment could quite possibly be a step backwards; make up your own mind on that one.

Bags unpacked, it's time for me to cook dinner, Peri Peri Chicken!

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